The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the registration of Roos Foods, which is at the centre of a Listeria outbreak linked to the death of one person, after an inspection uncovered unsanitary conditions.

FDA found the roof leaking so that water was raining down into the cheese processing room, including onto equipment and storage tanks and standing water on the floor in the cheese curd processing room in proximity to the cheese vats and in storage rooms.

The suspension was ordered after an investigation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local partners linked a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis to cheeses contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and manufactured by the company.

Residues after cleaning

FDA inspected the company’s facility from February 18 – March 4 and also found food residues found on equipment after cleaning and openings to milk storage tanks and transfer piping were not capped to prevent contaminants entering or compromising food contact surfaces.

The suspension order will be lifted when the FDA determines that food manufactured, processed, packed, or held no longer has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the registration of Roos Foods, which is at the centre of a Listeria outbreak linked to the death of one person, after an inspection uncovered unsanitary conditions.